Thursday, February 26, 2009

"You are going to lock me up for a fucking hot dog, a dollar hot dog?" - Assistant DA resigns after downtown incident

When the officer caught up with Olson, the prosecutor said he didn't know anything about a hot dog, though he had ketchup and mustard on his shirt, police said.

A Clarke County assistant district attorney resigned Wednesday morning, hours after he allegedly tussled with a street vendor downtown and refused to pay for a hot dog.

William Michael Olson, 36, was arrested on misdemeanor charges of public intoxication and theft of services, Athens-Clarke police said.

Olson posted a $500 bond, was released from jail and resigned during a meeting with Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney Ken Mauldin.

"Billy is a good man and I think the world of him," Mauldin said. "This is a very unfortunate situation, and I can only wish him the best and keep him in my thoughts and prayers."

A police officer responded to a 1:25 a.m. report of a fight at the corner of East Broad Street and College Avenue, police said.

A street vendor told the officer that Olson ate a hot dog and walked away without paying; he also put his hands on the vendor's chest two times, according to police.

When the officer caught up with Olson, the prosecutor said he didn't know anything about a hot dog, though he had ketchup and mustard on his shirt, police said.

Olson's speech was slurred and his eyes bloodshot, and his language was laced with profanities, the officer wrote in a report.

When the officer threatened to arrest him if he refused to pay $2.50 for the hot dog, Olson pulled out his wallet and flashed his assistant district attorney badge, police said.

He "told me I needed to be careful" and asked "was I was sure that I wanted to do this," the officer wrote in the report.

Olson was incredulous when the officer said he would arrest him.

"You are going to lock me up for a fuckng hot dog, a dollar hot dog?" the officer quoted Olson in his report.

When a police supervisor arrived, Olson admitted to the officers that he'd been drinking, but told them he couldn't recall details of what just happened, police said.

Mauldin would not say if he asked Olson to resign, but said his former assistant is a likable person and a diligent attorney.

"I think he has some matters he needs to address, and I'm sure he'll be working through them," Mauldin said.

Olson is respected among local defense attorneys, and his alleged behavior was out of character for the man they saw in court, according to Kim T. Stephens, who represented clients in several cases that Olson prosecuted.

"He was very professional and fair, and always seemed just in the cases he handled," Stephens said. "My thoughts about him wouldn't change just because of this incident.